Guizzy wrote:
> Hello, I have a question about the steeping process that maybe you
> fine folks could help me with.
>
> I suppose it is the case for most, but when I drink tea at home, I
> prefer to enjoy my tea in a calm place; usually either at the dinner
> table or in my living room. For large brewings this isn't a problem.
> But I am mostly a chinese tea drinker, and I usually drink them either
> gongfu style or with the help of a zhong, so I'm doing many small
> infusions. I find it quite bothersome to drink my small tea cup, walk
> back to the kitchen reheat the water a few seconds in the electric
> kettle to raise it back to the right temperature and re-steep my tea.
>
> Is there any more elegant solution to bring water with me at a
> reasonably hot temperature so that I can at least make a few infusions
> without having to re-heat my water? I'm thinking maybe a thermos, but
> I'm not sure it would be able to keep it hot enough (10 degrees are
> not too important for a coffee or a soup, but quite so for a tea).


I have a stainless steel thermos that I use ONLY for water and it does a
perfect job of keeping water reasonably hot (too hot at first in fact)
for greens at my desk. If you go the thermos route I'd recommend getting
a new one and never putting anything but water in it, and no milk or
milk tea either...they (thermoses) are (in my experience) nearly
impossible to get entirely clean once you do. I also can use the water
in this thermos for greener oolongs when it's first hot. I do shui Xians
with it too but it may be at a lower temp than ideal. That's the
trade-off for the convenience for me though. Mostly I use it for greens
and whites.

Get a good thermos though, not one of the cheap plastic things with the
vacuum glass bottle inside.

Also, my method of steeping doesn't require me to open and close the lid
a lot (I tend to brew a larger amount, say 8-10 Oz, at a time) so that
may be a factor in your decision.

Melinda

P.S. I've never heard the term zhong for a gaiwan before, is that
regional or...? What is it's literal translation? I'm happy to learn a
new tea term!